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May 10, 2004 13:28:29 GMT -8
Post by ScoobieDoo on May 10, 2004 13:28:29 GMT -8
Last night I finally gear up all my vintage stuff that I have been organizing, setting up, etc all winter. Upon gearing up I was horrified to find that wearing a horse collar vest impeded my access to my chest d-rings, and even seeing or finding my weight belt buckle and/or tank harness buckle.
Any thoughts or ideas?
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May 10, 2004 15:03:31 GMT -8
Post by John Lundy on May 10, 2004 15:03:31 GMT -8
I think SeaRat would be the best source of suggestions as he has designed BCs for use with vintage gear. What kind of harness are you using? I have a military harness for my doubles which uses D-rings so you can thread the harness for quick release. The chest harness can be situated so you can reach the quick release through the neck opening of the horse collar BC. This probably would not work if you have quick release buckles though. In addition to the chest and waist, there are quick release D-rings on the shoulder straps as well, so you don't have to "climb out" of the shoulder straps to ditch the tanks.
John
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May 11, 2004 22:26:41 GMT -8
Post by SeaRat on May 11, 2004 22:26:41 GMT -8
Just time for a couple of thoughts about your BC and chest strap. In the US Navy, we wore the front-mouted, inflatable PFD. We always used the double "D" ring in a safety loop, with the long end sticking out the neck hole. This can be done with most front-mount BCs. The chest strap should never be over the BC, as this can cause injury if the BC is fully inflated.
More tomorrow, as I've run out of time and energy.
John
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May 14, 2004 13:36:23 GMT -8
Post by VintageDiverMN on May 14, 2004 13:36:23 GMT -8
Real vintage divers don't need horse collars or BCs
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May 14, 2004 13:54:13 GMT -8
Post by ScoobieDoo on May 14, 2004 13:54:13 GMT -8
Well, Actually, I'll be using my Dacor R-3 and USD backpack in about 20 ft of water - so I'm not even worrying about a vest at this point. In any emergency, dropping the weight belt would make me more than buoyant!
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May 14, 2004 18:03:31 GMT -8
Post by SeaRat on May 14, 2004 18:03:31 GMT -8
Right now I'm looking at a photo of myself diving in Clear Lake, Oregon in the 1970s. I'm using a Dacor R4 I rebuilt myself, a steel 72 (yellow paint) with a USD backpack on it, wet suit (full, with gloves for the 38 degree water) and a weight belt, mask and fins; no BC. And it was a good dive too. I found an RC Cola bottle on the bottom, and the photo is with me showing it off. At that time, BCs were just coming into being, and were pretty ill-designed for what they were asked to do. The horsecollar BC that ScoobieDoo was talking about really did not work too well except at the surface. As a BC, it put the buoyancy moment at the neck, and the diver was constantly having to work to overcome the moment arm between the BC and the weight belt. (That's why I designed my own version.) But getting back to the chest strap, there are several ways to overcome the problem. The chest strap of a military harness is only there to keep the shoulder straps from rolling off the shoulders, which is pretty irritating. This was before the space program invented something that really could replace the chest strap--velcro. If a patch of velcro is sewn into the top of the shoulder strap (the hook part), and the other patch (the loop part) is either glued or sown to the under side of the BC, you get the same effect as the chest strap without the strap. John Here is the photo (photo by Copyright 1974--Bruce Higgins):
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May 16, 2004 3:02:03 GMT -8
Post by ScoobieDoo on May 16, 2004 3:02:03 GMT -8
Nice pic SeaRat!
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May 16, 2004 10:42:04 GMT -8
Post by BLT on May 16, 2004 10:42:04 GMT -8
I second the comment on the nice pic! Especially since it was taken by my Open Water instructor... Not to mention that Bruce Higgins is very well thought of in the Seattle area diving scene since the Edmonds UW park is essentially his baby and has been for ohh about -- forever!
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May 16, 2004 20:44:06 GMT -8
Post by SeaRat on May 16, 2004 20:44:06 GMT -8
Bruce and I were diving together at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon USA in the years 1972 through 1975. I was trying to figure out what to do with my life after Vietnam, and Bruce was getting his Masters Degree from the College of Ocean Engineering. After graduation in 1975, Bruce migrated north, and began his work on the Edmonds Underwater Park sometime thereafter. You'll have to ask him about that, but that is easy. All you need to do is show up at Edmonds at about 9:00 AM most any Saturday, and Bruce and his friends will be working on the park. BLT is one of them. VintageDiverNM above stated: Bruce, and several of us on some occasions, are what is now known as "minimalist" divers. Bruce dives sans BC, and usually without an octopus. Why? Well, first the deepest spot in Edmonds Underwater Park is 30 feet. Have problems? Surface! The gear on one's chest will get rubbed away, quite literally, the way Bruce and some of his helpers dive. He and they move heavy concrete structures into place to enhance the reef, or to keep a newly sunk wreck in place. In the 1970s, we were just developing the concepts of BCs, and the real reason for a BC is to compensate for buoyancy loss of a wet suit at depth. But if you know how deep you will dive, you need only weight yourself to be neutral at that depth. The safety measure is as ScoobieDoo stated: Bruce takes his fins off a lot to "walk" concrete structures to their best placement on the bottom or in a boat (to keep the boat from moving in the tide, or in storm surges). He goes through about a wet suit a year, literally wearing holes in them (Bruce is featured in the second photo below). If you have never been to Edmonds Underwater Park, you should plan to dive there sometime. If you are ever in the Seattle area, and want a unique diving experience, where fish have not ever in their lifetime seen a speargun, where ling cod in the 50 pound range nest, where cabazon protect their nests by charging divers, then you need to see Edmonds Underwater Park. John
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